Food is too cheap for the authorities to stomach in China.  Consumers and taxpayers aren't paying enough for their automobiles in the United States, either, according to the U.S. steelworkers Union, international trade "experts" on the Hill and, possibly, President Obama.  It sounds absurd but this is the most recent development in the ongoing, and self-harming, tit-for-tat trade spat between Beijing and Washington.  These political shenanigans are bad for consumers and producers in both countries, and bode ill for global economic recovery.

In the coming days, Beijing will introduce a country-wide ban on imports of U.S. chickens.  The move is seen as a direct response to a United States Department of Agriculture ruling that prevented chicken imports into the US.  Unfortunately, for the Chinese, this will only increase the cost of a basic foodstuff in China, and will surely make life even more difficult for the many millions whose jobs have disappeared as a result of the global economic contraction.  Irrespective of what moves the Americans may have taken, surely it would be in the interest of the Chinese to see the price of food and all other essentials drop as far as possible?

Rather than repeal the original restrictions that provoke a response from Beijing, President Obama is posied to make the situation even worse.  The President is being urged by an unholy alliance of domestic vested interests to impose steep tariffs against Chinese tires.  Obama decides to follow through with these recommendations, submitted by the U.S. International Trade Commission, in September.  His recent comment that Chinese tire imports need to be "restricted" is one indication that he will follow the recommendation. 

One of the groups that supports the tariffs is the U.S. Steelworkers Union, who claim over 5,000 jobs have been lost as a result of Chinese imports.  Maybe, but how many American jobs will go when Chinese tires disappear from the American marketplace, making new automobiles, which taxpayers have already been forced to subsidise, more expensive?

What might be good for a narrow but vocal group of American workers is not necessarily good for the American economy. Obama should resist the temptation to appeal to vested interests and keep U.S. trade with China flowing.